One of the best tracks of 2015 plays like a daydream twisted through Joe Meek-esq production by way of one Jacco Gardner. A piercing vintage synth line shakes throughout this laid back, almost slow-motion cruiser of a song that slowly builds and wraps itself up in a gentle understanding that behind all beauty hides a little mystery. This is one of the first "must-own" 7"s of the year.

Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 21-track compilation through Dropbox here.

UNITED STATES: We Listen For YouHip Hatchet - Coward's Luck There are thousands upon thousands of singer-songwriters in the world - and not a single one of them is like Hip Hatchet. His music is highly personal yet also universal. Every lyric packs a punch and every play reminds you just how powerful sound can be.

ARGENTINA: ZonaindiePanda Elliot - Guerrero (AlexPatri remix)
Panda Elliot is three in one: woman, band and producer. A fresh new face in the music scene, she recently launched her second album Forastera, which shows a more confident Panda Elliot, well established in her own style. After the eclectic single Ligerita, she released Guerrero, a rockin' feminine song that forces you to move your head. The track is potent and full of energy on its own, so this remix by AlexPatri extends into the realm of fun, uptempo electronic dance.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?Kučka - Divinity
A continuation of Kučka's future R&B leanings hinted at in her previous work, Divinity is a lush, surreal affair. Undulating rhythms sync perfectly with the swirling, cough-syrupy synths and Laura Jane Lowther's vocals, which sound at once sultry and innocent. Think an antipodean Purity Ring.

BRAZIL: Meio DesligadoPasso Torto - Isaurinha
Passo Torto is a quartet formed by renowned musicians from Sao Paulo's contemporary music scene. Isaurinha is taken from their second album, Passo Elétrico, in which they explore guitars and effects on acoustic bass and cavaquinho (sort of a small guitar often associated with samba), with the lack of percussion elements leaving space for harmonic and melodic experiments.

CANADA: Ride The TempoMunroe - Bloodlet
Fans of Lykke Li may enjoy newcomer Kathleen Munroe, who simply goes by Munroe. She makes chilling folk tunes like this one with a tinge of Americana (though I guess this would be Canadiana?). Production-wise, Bloodlet doesn't have too much but it's perfect just the way it is. Her lovely voice is all you need.

CHILE: Super 45Patio Solar - Pintura
Guitars are back in Chilean pop and Patio Solar proves this. After a couple of self-produced releases (Patio Solar and Driminsún), these youngsters from a little corner of Santiago offer dreamy lo-fi melodies, sometimes close to shoegaze and psychedelia, on their 2015 debut album Temporada. The single Pintura is taken from the record, released through Piloto.

COLOMBIA: El Parlante AmarilloOkraa - Healing
Juan Carlos Torres, the frontman of Bogotá's Globos de Aire, also goes by the pseudonym Okraa, and with this solo alias he makes deeper, more personal work within electronica. Okraa, who has done remixes for Scottish artist Turtle, shows the well-woven sounds that lead us to take a walk in our minds on Healing, from his debut Dreamachine EP.

DENMARK: All ScandinavianVirgin Suicide - Virgin Suicide
The quintet Virgin Suicide will release their eponymous debut album on May 18, co-produced and mixed by Sune Rose Wagner (The Raveonettes). Here is first single Virgin Suicide as a MAP exclusive download.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La CaseteraBehind The Tigers - Behind The Tigers
Behind The Tigers is a new, mysterious project from Santo Domingo. Their name is a literal translation of a colloquial Dominican way of referring to fun-loving guys as "tigres". Their first song, Behind The Tigers, is a breezy electro-pop tune, but as simple as it sounds, the duo claims there's more than meets the eye in their lyrics and wordplay.

ECUADOR: Plan ArteriaLa Orden Del Baile Atrevido - Se Fue El Sistema
Se Fue El Sistema is the first single on the new EP by La Orden Del Baile Atrevido (L.O.B.A.), an electro-rock band with a euphoric style dubbed "rotten glamor". This song mocks the nightmare of Ecuador's paperwork, but it's also a criticism of the system in which we live. L.OB.A.'s debut album, Musica Del Cosmos, will be released this year.

GREECE: MouxlalouloudaZebra Tracks - Waves
There's something totally irresistible about Zebra Tracks’ intoxicating third album, Waves. They make thoroughly exciting, perfectly executed music that brims with fresh ideas, shimmery guitars and thundering rhythms, sharp and moving melodies, bleak, brooding but hopeful arrangements. They have wisely retained the elements that worked previously, yet there is a depth of emotion here they have never accessed before. Zebra Tracks have made an impressive stride forward and you'd be mad not to follow them.

INDONESIA: DeathrockstarNic Fit - Mimpi Pergi
If you watched a lot of MTV and crowdsurfed at gigs during the 1990s, then you may have the era forever in your heart as one awesome memory where lots of weird-sounding bands emerged and you love them. Nic Fit will bring back those happy feelings.

IRELAND: Hendicott WritingNo Monster Club - I've Retired
No Monster Club is the solo guise of Bobby Aherne, an ever-present at the heart of some of Dublin indie's more eccentric and memorable moments. I've Retired sees colorfully upbeat verses and bouncing choruses adorned with contrary lyrics: it's themed around a departure from the scene that's clearly not about to happen. What's bound to happen eventually, though, is one of Aherne's acts make a major, major impact. A space worth watching.

ITALY: PolaroidGo Dugong - Imagine Me And You
A Love Explosion is the new album by Go Dugong. Spring is approaching here in Italy, so a record full of love and sensuality seems appropriate. There are mellow beats and psychedelic melodies influenced by 60s and 70s Italian soundtracks plus samples from old school Northern Soul hits. The album is free to download via Bandcamp.

JAPAN: Make Believe MelodiesCaro Kissa - Saturday Morning
Indie-pop shall truly never fade out of style. As long as there are young people out there with access to some instruments and a computer to record with, the twee stuff will keep on coming. Caro Kissa have released one of the first great indie-pop EPs of the year in Japan with Perfect Dream, and Saturday Morning is an easy-going highlight, showcasing their skippy tempo and solid singing.

MEXICO: Red Bull PanamérikaAnimación Suspendida II - Creepy Groovy Hell
Vapor and sine waves are certainly bubbling under the skin of Animación Suspendida II, a duo comprised of Beto Ben and Mou (formerly of Bam Bam, the space-rock band that delivered Red Bull Panamérika's 2011 album of the year). With an amazing recording process, the pair improvise on iPad music apps, record to tape and then edit the final track. So, no Ableton Live here, just pure Monterrey psy-fi-phuture juice. The video is a must-see.

PERU: SoTBThe Deep Sea Monster - Like A God
The Deep Sea Monster, who formed in 2012, have emerged from Lima's independent music circuit with a sound encompassing psychedelia and garage rock. Their new self-titled album is a perfect match of experimentation and euphoria. Their challenge is to not limit their music in any way and their full discography is available for free on Bandcamp.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?Tape Junk - Thumb Sucking Generation
The Tape Junk, who first appeared on the Music Alliance Pact in October 2013, release their eponymous second album in April. It was produced by another talented Portuguese musician, Luís Nunes (Walter Benjamin), and recorded in a makeshift studio in Alvito, Alentejo. The calmness of the place comes across on the recording and its sound.

SCOTLAND: The Pop CopTongues. - Anymore
Tongues. is the electro project of Kill The Waves frontman Tim Kwant, who is wildly succeeding in his mission to create inspiring pop songs that combine raw energy with a delicate touch. Bold synths, deep subs and soaring vocoders have justifiably drawn comparisons to Alt-J, Hot Chip and fellow Glaswegians Chvrches. With around 50,000 plays so far, Colours In The Dark sparked an online stir after being "accidentally" left public on SoundCloud earlier this year. However, MAP exclusive download Anymore is an even more impressive offering, a perfect union of uplifting and emotive.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROKFlash Flood Darlings - In The City
Seoul-based Flash Flood Darlings, who was raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, describes his music as romantic synth-pop. Debut album Vorab And Tesoro was released in February and is filled with a dreamy blend of genres. In The City has been well chosen as one of the album's two lead tracks, offering a synth line that makes it the perfect soundtrack for a night drive through any city.

SPAIN: MusikornerMIWA* - Space Invad*r
MIWA* is the moniker under which Barcelona-based DJ and producer Sergi Miwa releases tracks inspired by avant-garde Japanese pop. His music is an open invitation to a galactic getaway, or a one-way ticket to wherever your imagination takes you.

In a music world of structured album roll outs where track premieres lead to release announcements which leads to a music video and then a second single and then a mini tour and then so on and so on and so on...you get it. Anyway, all over the world musicians are silently releasing their art to zero fanfare or structured plan. Neither way is the factually "correct" way to release music, but there is something pure about artists releasing music into an empty cosmos simply because it's part of their being.

Which leads us to the gifted Jonathan Glen Wood. Locals of Louisville may know him from his brilliant band Old Baby, but his solo career has been quite the gift to those who have paid attention to his ever expanding Bandcamp page since July 2014. Before we take a look at his individual releases, my overall thought of Wood's work is a comparison to untouched land. His music, while new, feels like something found in an old trunk in the attic of a lost time, each of his tracks pulled from brittle and forgotten 78s of the past and to be treasured today.

The best place to start is with Wood's initial full length offering, Ballad Of Jon. It's an impressive collection of honest lyrics and downtrodden Appalachian/bluegrass strumming. Wood uses this debut to both illuminate his expansive personal knowledge of the history of folk/bluegrass/music and also cements himself as a unique voice which comes in handy when a listener takes the journey through his future offerings.

THE EPS / THE RANGE OF SOUNDS

I remember being impressed with the debut album from Wood, but it's what he did next that really elevated him to a special level of artistry. From November of 2014 to this current month (March 2015) Wood began releasing small offerings here and there without any announcement. I call this portion of releases: "the range of sounds". On the Alone EP we have darkness, with Needle EP we have introspection; electronic nostalgia that echos a Brian Eno piece on On Remembering, and hopeful atmospheric sounds on Views From Love.

I can't imagine a listener moving from Wood's full album and then navigating through these small offerings without ending up moved by the range and simple brilliance of Wood's artistry. This is the type of musician who doesn't just create to create, it's born and blossoming within Wood's soul. These are the songs you find on a heavily curated vinyl issue years after the artist is gone and wonder...why wasn't he better known at the time. Luckily, that doesn't need to be the case.

Sancocho is a traditional Latin American soup that permeates the country of Colombia. From Bogota to Barranquilla, each city, town, and provence will tell you that they make the best. Part of what enables everyone to make their case is that sancocho is an ever-changing dish composed of different vegetables, meats, and even fish. It's a pure hybrid dish for an area rocked by indigenous, African, Spanish, French, and Portuguese populations.

In Bomba Estéro's past records, they've adopted an almost sancocho-like musical sound by regularly mixing dance beats, psychedelia, and traditional forms to create their own brand of music. "Fiesta" the first full taste off their new record adopts a champeta beat which slowly beats its way into a trance-like state before the percussion ramps up only to turn back into a hip-hop inspired chorus that sounds like it could have been stolen from top-40. The reintegration of the champeta beat draws the seemingly disparate sounds back together as the group continues to downplay the upbeat connotation of their chorus. It's not the fiesta that 2014's "Que Bonito" was, but as the group continues to move in new ways and incorporating new sounds, they remain on the forefront of music in Latin America and abroad.

Mark Kramer, aka Tender Mercy, returns with his hypnotic guitar plucking that dissolves note after note with haunting vocals that echo across speakers like a spirit in the distance. The very limited (only 100) cassette of Sacred Sphinx is now available on his Bandcamp page.

Concerto No.9 Movement 1 is the first of three movements. Drizzled with jazzy riffs and laced heavily with melodically screaming lead guitars, this installment is sure to keep your ears tuned in and life's crazy ills tuned out!

Indie Rock crafted for the simple purpose of being fun, catchy, and creative. There is not a single moment of pretentiousness on this record and is an album for anyone who likes to kick back and let a band be themselves...introducing their vision and love for music song after song.

You know those people who say that the NBA is better when the Lakers, Celtics, and Knicks are all good? (Sorry, NBA) I'm one of those people who think indie rock is better when Montréal, LA, and DC are good. So, the collective resurgence of the Montréal scene, from Silver Mt. Zion's release last year Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything to 2012's release by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!, the group's first release in 10 years, has been an unexpected windfall. This week, GY!BE announced their new album, Asunder, Sweet and other Distress will be out March 31 via Constellation (preorder). That's the cover art up there. To accompany the announce, GY!BE has shared a nearly 8 min excerpt of a track, because Godspeed don't do nothin' short. Enjoy the orchestral madness sure to tear up your speakers and make your co-workers wonder if you're going to repurpose the copier for your zine, again.